NEWS

Courier edges McEnroe to win opening event of PowerShares Series

SURPRISE, Ariz. – In the opening event of the 2012 PowerShares Series, Jim Courier battled back to take the championship match over John McEnroe, 8-7 (1) in the Cancer Treatment Centers of America Tennis Championships, Presented by Sanderson Ford and Lincoln, at the Surprise Tennis & Racquet Complex Saturday night.

Trailing 7-5 in the final match, Courier was able to break as McEnroe served for the title and force a deciding tiebreaker in the 8-game pro set final. From there Courier took control and dominated to secure the victory 7-1 in the tiebreaker.

"For the first event of the season, the quality of tennis played tonight was outstanding," said Courier, who finished second in the 2011 Champions Series standings. "Once I was able to break John and get back into the match, I was able to take control. I felt like we both returned to where we left off last year, when we played so well coming down the stretch. It’s a great feeling to win the first tournament this year and get off to such a strong start in the race."

For the victory, Courier earns 400 points and takes the early lead in the 2012 PowerShares Series standings, while McEnroe earns 200 points.

In the evening’s first semifinal, Courier sprinted out to a 5-2 lead but ran into a resilient Todd Martin, who clawed his way back to even the match at 5-5, eventually sending it into a deciding tiebreaker. Courier reasserted control in the breaker using a solid first serve and powerful forehand to grab the first spot in the final, winning by a score of 7-6 (5).

In the evening's second semifinal, McEnroe played nearly flawless serve and volley tennis throughout to dispatch Michael Chang, by a score of 6-2.

Chang and Martin each earned 100 points in the standings for their performance in Surprise.

Last year in Surprise, Pete Sampras outlasted Courier 8-7 (4) in the championship match of the CTCA Championships, to win his third event, on his way to capturing the overall season-long standings title.

The 2012 PowerShares Series returns to action on Wednesday night, October 17 in Chicago, Illinois when McEnroe, Courier, Pete Sampras and Ivan Lendl take the court to compete in the PowerShares QQQ Challenge, presented by Cancer Treatment Centers of America. The action starts at 7:30 pm at the United Center.

For news and stories regarding the entire 2012 PowerShares Series and ticket information for future events, log on to www.powersharesseries.com.